A Family Legacy

Yesterday while I was helping Mom with Christmas preparations she uttered an exasperated, "Golly day!" I smiled, because that's a phrase that before I met my friend Brittany in high school had never been said before in my family. Now Mom says it, I say it, Maggie says it, and even Ben says it. It caused me to think about the other things I've picked up from friends over the years. It took me a good five years or so to quit calling everybody honey thanks to my mission pal, Aniesa. Then after her recent visit I was at it again. I called Dad honey, Ben's friend Edward honey, and who knows who else. Then Mom said crap and I asked her about that one. I thought I'd picked it up from a childhood friend because I remember Mom harping on me for saying it in front of her. Mom corrected that misconception, telling me she'd said it for years. Not only that, but Grandma had been particularly fond of saying it, to the point that her yearbook quote was, "Oh, crap!"

Ah, crap, a family tradition for three generations. If Grandma were still around I'd give her a big hug.

Henry's Incredible Lego Haul

Yes, he got his precious "A-boat" and a few other Lego sets as well. He wanted to take some to Papaw's house, but Ben said no and told him that there were rats there who liked to eat legos. I'm not sure if Henry really believed it, but at any rate the legos stayed home. I pretty much forgot about Ben's little lie until Henry opened his present from Grandma and Papaw and wanted to assemble his legos. Ben wanted to wait until we got home so nothing would accidentally get left behind. Henry countered with, "There are no rats in here!"

For Your Viewing Pleasure

Too bad the video cut off Henry's awesome comeback: "No, it's not!"

Here It Is: The Christmas Card Blog

Okay, people, due to extreme sloth this year, this year's Christmas Card is online. It probably would have been better to go get a portrait made and all, but when you've been procrastinating like I have lately... Anyway, here it is:

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Love, The Tilleys

And the exciting 2008 Update on everything that's been going on, etc:

This year's been pretty much the same as last year. We're still in the Spanish branch at church, still driving the same old car, doing the same old routine. Ben's been working hard at his job as a computer programmer, and playing video games and hanging out with his family in his free time. The annual beard is back, but this year he's decided to keep it neat so wifey doesn't have much to complain about. Sarah's still doing the stay-at-home mom thing, keeping Henry alive and entertained. She's going on her fourth year as an assistant den leader in cub scouts, plus somehow got roped into being the choir director at church-- this should end well. She's also stayed busy teaching Joy School to Henry and his friends. Henry's growing up fast, learning his ABC's and 123's. He's gotten good at writing his name and is looking forward to turning five this February and starting kindergarten next fall. He's completely devoted to all things boy now, which includes shunning the "girl" aisle in the toy store, although it's still okay to play with his girlfriends. Henry has officially become a Lego addict and has declared that he shall work for Lego Star Wars when he grows up. Dori the cat is as fat as ever, despite having had eleven teeth extracted. She likes to eat bugs and knock Legos under the tv cabinet, throw up her cat food, and snuggle in warm laps. It's been a great year and we're looking forward to another great one.

Love you all!

Henry Vs. Christmas

Henry's had his eye on a certain Lego product for a while now: a speedboat with an A printed across its noble prow (or whatever you call that part). He's determined he must have it, his precious "A-boat", and spent several minutes salivating over it in the toy aisle with me while Ben snuck off to covertly buy Henry's presents. He is, of course, getting this for Christmas. What kid wouldn't want a Lego set that comes with a cool speedboat, a damsel in distress, her daring rescuer, an evil genius ala Jaws from the James Bond movies, and sharks with frickin' lasers attached to their heads. The other day Henry decided that he must have the "A-boat" right away without delay. I explained that Christmas was coming really soon and that he'd have to wait and see if Santa brought him what he wanted. Henry by virtue of being a kid, decided this waiting stuff was for the birds. So ensued an hour-long debate, Henry pro Get the Lego set Now, me on the opposing side. An approximation of how it went down:

Henry: Mom, I'm stuck on the A-boat.

Me: That's great, Henry. But you have to wait until Christmas.

Henry: Hey, I got it! How about we buy it!

Me: (Suppressing laughter because he's so dang cute) We're not going to the store today. You'll have to wait until Christmas.

Henry: I hate Christmas! Christmas blows!

Me: Seriously, you can't say blows. You say that again and I'm banning the Simpsons. (I've already banned Family Guy.)

Henry: Okay. Sorry. I hate Christmas!

Me: You don't hate Christmas, you hate waiting for Christmas so you can get your Legos.

Henry: Mom, you've got one choice (holding up two fingers). I get the A-boat or you get in trouble!

Me: Sustained Laughter.

And so on.

Henry has decided the worst thing in the world to get for Christmas is socks and underwear. I keep threatening to get him some if he doesn't stop whining about the A-boat; that usually shuts him up. It's nice to have a verbal weapon other than the threat of time out or spanking.

While Ben was napping the other day I whispered to Henry, "What should we get Daddy for Christmas?"

Henry whispered back, "Underwear!"

Because Everyone Needs Closure

Yes, the bird carcass has vacated the tree. It's neither hanging upside down from the branch, nor is it festering on the ground beneath the branch, so we can assume one of two things: something ate it (blechhh!) or it flew its zombie self south for the winter. I'm going for the zombie angle myself.

Wonders Never Cease

Yesterday while I was busily occupied with something other than housework, Henry told me he cleaned his room. I received this information with little doubt as to the truth of his statement; I knew he believed he cleaned his room but I was under the impression that it was "clean" according to Henry, i.e., he'd picked up a few things or made his bed. So I got up and followed him to his room that I might give positive reinforcement to a voluntary, unprompted act of cleanliness.

His room was clean. I was floored.

Check it out:



High five, buddy!

My Butt Has Finally Thawed

Today, being Monday, was park day, so Henry and I dutifully walked to the park. Apparently everyone else in the world thought it was too cold to be out. The park was deserted, so we walked the greenway and went over the highway to the other "dragon" park. I was really surprised because this one was desolate as well. I honestly didn't think it was that cold, except for my ears. We played a while and Henry had his snack and I decided since we were so close we'd walk over to the grocery store across the street and buy a bag of oranges. So we did, stopping first at a toy store. On the way home, walking on the trail beneath the power lines, Henry munched M&M's and went into million-question mode.

"Mom, why are trees green?"

I explained about chlorophyll as efficiently as I could.

"Mom, I love you."

"I love you, too."

Then it was fifteen other questions, I'd answer and Henry would tell me he loved me.

I guess he was prepping me for when we got home and it was time to clean his room and he decided he was going to be lazy. That's what he always says when I tell him to clean up: "But Mom, I'm lazy. I want to be a slob."

Gee, wonder where he got that from.

Anyway, it occurred to me that perhaps it had been a bit nippy to be out when I noticed four hours later when Ben got home that my butt was still cold from our outdoor excursion.

On a side note, tonight we did a little Christmas shopping at a certain electronics store Ben loves. As we were lining up to make our purchases, Henry was standing in the aisle staring at something on a display when an employee came strolling along looking everywhere but four-year-old level and slammed right into him. It was a sight to behold, what with the tall, skinny guy practically doing a cartwheel as he tripped over Henry, then grabbing him as he fell in what I can only assume was a defensive move to keep Henry from hitting his head on the floor. Henry was okay and I might have laughed (it looked hilarious to me) but the guy hurt his finger so I didn't.

Are Y'all Serious?

Since there have been actual requests of a photographic evidence:



And:



Yes, these photos were taken this morning. After yesterday's failed attempt to disentangle the bird from the branch. Vigorous shaking of the tree branch whipped the bird all over the place and sent feathers flying, but had no effect on the cold dead claw. We even resorted to two rakes. I was quite literally hanging off of the metal garden rake hooked onto the branch trying to bend it enough to where Ben could get within whacking range. Note in the first photo the scarring just visible on the branch near the bird. Ben broke several tines off the plastic rake trying to knock the carcass off. Whack and shake as we might, the bird insists upon rotting in the open air.

Dead Bird Update...

Because I know you're all on the edge of your seats wanting to know if the carcass has dropped yet.

Nope. The carcass, or Rotten Robin, as I like to call him (or Rotting Robin, if you prefer), is still clutching a death grip, literally, on the branch. Ben went out at my request today to knock it out of the tree so I wouldn't have to watch the magic of decomposition every time I looked out the window. Unfortunately the bird is a little out of rake range, so Ben had to shake the tree limb instead. He shook and he shook and he shook, and the bird flopped around as much as rigor mortis would allow, but absolutely would not come off the branch.

Ick. Here's hoping tomorrow's attempt fares better.

X-Mas Happenin's

That star is GARBAGE! (Fah la la la lah, la la la laaaaahhh!)

We put the Christmas tree up last night. Or rather the top half of it. The tree's really about six feet, but since the stand broke we had to get another one and it's a Walmart value at about $7.50, and having any kind of expectation of the shoddy piece o' junk holding up the whole thing is a bit much. As it stands now, with only the top half to support, it's a little unstable at best, and we can only pray the cat doesn't climb back up there and knock it over again. While we were out for a stand we decided to purchase a star for the tree per Henry's request. I guess the "Black Friday" madness (which I happily avoided) must've cleared out the shelves at Wally World, for pickin's was slim. The choices were: broken plastic star that blinked; non-broken plastic star that blinked blue and green; ugly trailer-trash multi-light, gold tinsel adorned star; and hideous twin of before mentioned star in silver tinsel. I'd gladly have posted pictures of said choices, but apparently Walmart is too embarrassed to showcase such cheapo hud on the internets. Anyway, I opted for the non-broken star that blinked, because honestly, although I didn't really give a crap since we've done without a star for nine years, I couldn't bring myself to even touch the tinsel twins. Then today, after Joy School was blissfully over, Henry looks up at the tree and whined, "That star is garbage! I wanted the other star with the lights!"

The Curse Continues...

As I was sitting down to read a book this afternoon my gaze wandered to the colorful fall leaves dappled with sunlight just outside my window. Then something unusual caught my attention. There in the ornamental pear tree situated before the house, far out on a limb, dangling upside down by forces unknown, hung a dead bird. I know this bird was dead because I watched it with interest for some time, waiting for it to right itself, which it never did. As I looked up from my book from time to time I noticed the tree stayed devoid of living birds for a while, which was kind of creepy. Like being in a movie where there's this ominous dead bird hanging upside down from a tree for no discernible reason. Then after a while smaller, living birds flew over and started eating the little pears, happily ignoring the dead carcass, and then flew away, presumably over to the oak tree where they perched from on high and crapped on my car like they've been doing for the past three weeks. Stupid birds. If the dead bird's still there in the morning I'm taking a picture. Weirdest thing I ever saw.